Hyrule Warriors: Legends on Nintendo 3DS

Hyrule Warriors: Legends is the latest adventure based on the amazing Zelda franchise. Whilst based on the same lands and characters as Twilight Princess, this has a vastly different look and feel to it. With less of a focus on solving puzzles, and much more on cutting down hoards of enemies as you progress.

Hyrule Warriors: Legends on the Nintendo 3DS is based on the Nintendo Wii U game and contains all the original content, but with even more added content and features and, of course, the ability to play on the go. One of the things I love about the Nintendo 3DS is that it fits neatly into a pocket, and provides an ideal distraction whilst waiting for a bus or travelling up to London on the train. And this game offers a great distraction!

After the beautifully crafted introductory set video, you start the game as Link. The basic premise is that the land has been invaded by an enemy and you must defeat them. Lots of them. As you battle through the different fields and fortresses, you have to overcome enough enemies to trigger the area boss to arrive. Beat him, and that area comes under Hyrule's command again. And once you have conquered most of the land, the level boss arrives and you have to work out how to beat him, too. He's breathing fire, trampling through walls and crushing your team-mates so you have to work fast.

As you progress you learn new skills and tips, and have to learn to take control of other playable characters in the game, or direct them to where you want them to fight for you. To be fair, the first level is not too tricky, but does involve a lot of sword play against hundreds of nasty chaps. But at the end of that level we find that Princess Zelda has been captured, and the real game begins - travel through different levels, different terrains, battle different enemies, and find her to bring her back. The trick is to win battlegrounds, and to do so quickly - that keeps your army's morale high and makes them more effective in fighting for you.

The Nintendo 3DS game has new stages, new gameplay and new characters compared to the Wii U game, so if you are a fan of that version you will want to take a look at this.

I realise I've mentioned the 'fighting' and 'swordplay' a lot, but this is not a game of gore. The atmosphere is light and playful. It is a huge amount of fun, with simple controls to move and control your character, and the ability to switch to other characters in the game. As you defeat more enemies, you can use new weapons (like bombs) and special moves, which are really quite extraordinary and great fun to use.

If you remember the Zelda games of yesteryear, you will also love the unique Adventure Mode where you can explore the original Legend of Zelda maps, finding fairies to assist you and bringing them into this new mission - but choose wisely, and help nurture the fairies you bring so they offer the best help for you.

Hyrule Warriors: Legends is available on Nintendo 3DS and is rated PEGI 12. Find out more from theNintendo website... or watch this short video produced by Nintendo UK.

Disclosure: We were sent the download code for this game for the purposes of review. All opinions are our own.